I Love You Too
by Syri-LLC
Summary: It's his first Christmas in the past, but with his family not even knowing who he is, Chris is all alone, left out in the cold...literally.
1. Chapter 1

My first one shot! I know, I should be working on my other stories (I'm almost done with the next chapter of TTRRH) but I just had to write this fic. It's about the first Christmas Chris spends in the past. Takes place about a month after Chris Crossed, and is a revelation fic. Please review!

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It was freezing cold up on the bridge. Middle of the night, wind howling around him, whipping his dark hair in his face, but he didn't care. Didn't care that he couldn't feel his legs anymore, or that there where small, wet trails running down his cheeks, threatening to turn to ice at any moment. He couldn't care less that he was barely even shivering anymore.

Didn't care that it was Christmas Eve.

Hadn't cared for year, come to think of it...

His family cared, though. They cared a lot, just...not about him. About the holiday. And family. Just...not him...

Piper...Mom...had started decorating the manor right after Thanksgiving (which he spent alone on the bridge as well). She loved Christmas, always had. There was tinsel wrapped around the banister of the grand staircase in the front hall, and mistletoe hanging at every doorway. Candles where lit every night, filling the rooms with scents of peppermint, gingerbread, and cinnamon. Leo had hung lights all around the manor walls, which twinkled silver in the dark of night, illuminating the San Francisco December chill.

And taking center stage in the living room was a huge, real pine tree. Colored, sparkling ornaments adorned every bough; shiny bobbles and balls, gold and silver snowflakes, turning lazily on thier strings. Ornaments passed down from Grams and Mom, and even farther bask. And there was always an angel on the top of the tree. A raven-haired angel, with pearly white wings and a shimmering gold halo...

And underneath the tree, crowding the floor, was a huge pile of gifts, wrapped in red and green, with bows and ribbons and string, which had started to assemble itself some weeks before the twenty-fifth...

Eight, ten, twenty years ago, a large portion of that pile would have the name "Chris" written on a tiny card, taped to the front of the box. He and Wyatt would race down the staircase the moment they woke up on Christmas morning, impatient to see what Santa (and Mommy, and Aunty Paige and Phoebe!) And left for them during the night. And it wouldn't matter how early it was, or how cold the wind howled outside, Mom would always be sitting on the couch, waiting for them. Thier aunts (and later, cousins) would plod down the stairs soon after, with wshes of Merry Christmas.

He smiled slightely to himself, remembering how he and his brother would tear the paper off the packages, each calling out guesses (often wildly wrong) as to what the box held, then fighting over who had the most, the best, the biggest...

Afterwards, Mommy would take them into the kitchen, where they'd have hot chocolate and ginger snaps for breakfast. It as always such a treat; cookies at seven in the morning! What a concept! Piper would always tell them, "No more!" But she'd always sneak them just one extra...

And sometimes, Daddy would be there! Chris could remember exactly three Christmases with Leo, though Wyatt could recall four. And each time, he'd bring them a gift unlike any they'd get from Wal Mart of or a toy store. He'd bring his sons a jar of fairy lights, that would flutter around in the dark for three days before disappearing back to wherever it was the came from. He once brought them a halo each (which Paige found extremely funny) made out of pure magic. Though looking back, Chris not-so-fondly remembered how Wyatts would always fall to the floor with a clatter, and roll away when he chased after it. Pure, GOOD magic.

The night before, though, was always the most fun! They'd watch "A Christmas Story" on video, and would laugh good and loud, even though they'd seen it a hundred times before. After, they would sit out on the balcony, no matter how cold, and sing. None of them could really sing well, but when the song of choice was Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer, it really didn't matter. On Christmas Eve, Piper would get her children fed, bathed, and they'd all crawl into her bed. With one child on each side, she would read her sons two stories; Twas the night before Christmas, with lots of funny illustrations, and the story of the first Christmas. Every year, no mater how old he was, he'd snuggle next to his mother, close, he could see the picures, and would listen to her soft voice, cool and quiet in the night...

But there weren't any gifts for Chris under the tree this year. Piper wouldn't make him hot chocolate, they wouldn't sing Christmas carols or read stories...

No, scratch that, THEY would sing, and eat Christmas dinner, and open presents early that morning. Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Leo, Grandpa and Wyatt... The whole Halliwell family...

Just without Chris.

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It was so cold now, Chris would touch his face, and not even feel it. It hardly ever snowed in San Fran, but Chris wouldn't be surprised at all if flurries started to fall right on him. It was eleven ten. Almost Christmas... Wyatt would be in bed by now, though the girls and Leo would all be up, waiting to welcome the holiday with spice cake and egg nog.

After a moments hesitation, Chris orbed out in a flash of rather festive-looking white lights...

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Chris Halliwell hadn't known that one could actually feel thier heart breaking, but he could. What he saw tore him up inside like glass. He stood silently outside the large bay window of the Halliwell manor, peering into the living room. There was his mother and father, sitting next to each other on the couch. Though split up now, they where both on good terms for Christmas, for Wyatt. Paige and Phoebe where working their way through a box of chocolates. Paige bought herself a box every year. When he was little, she's carefully search out the raspberry (Chris's favorite) and give her nephew the cream-filled candy, though he knew they where her favorite too...

Candles where lit all over the room. Peppermint, Gingerbread, cinnamon... and the lights on the tree where shining and shimmering, the sound of his Mothers laughter echoeing so faintly around him. There, as he knew, there would be, was a huge pile of presents under the tree. Boxes, bags, lumpy little shapes of tissue paper. Lots for Wyatt, and Leo and the girls., but not a one bore Chris's name...

...it was so inviting, looked so warm...Chris was tempted to knock on the front door, spill his secret, and beg to be let in, to be accepted, at least for Christmas...

The window ledge was high up frm the garden he stood in, so he had to stand n toe to see in. He grasped the edges off the sill, peering over the edge, like a little boy trying to reach the top shelf in his moms closet, where he and his brother KNEW she hid Christmas presents...

It felt odd, spying on his own family, not being aloud to enter the house he was raised in, not being aloud to be with his parents for Christmas. He was no more than ten feet away from Piper, though he felt as though he was in an entirely different world.

The radio was on, with Christmas carols playing loudly on the speakers. Paige, after a while, reached over and turned up the volume, her favorite song having come on. She started singing to herself, her voice carrying above the music to Chris's ears, soon joined with his mothers, and Leo's and Phoebe's...and the sounds of his brother crying.

Piper dashed upstairs, and came down a minute later with a fussy Wyatt held in her arms. He wasn't happy, being woken up at this hour! Piper shushed him and rocked him, holding him close to her, and singing softly...just to him...

Chris's suddenly felt a knot of jealousy in his chest he had never felt before...not when Leo used to spend more time with Wyatt, not when Wyatt was stronger, older, more powerful..he'd been envious, but never...never jealous...

But looking in at the scene before him, he felt nothing but pure, unbridled jealousy towards Wyatt. The way Mom held him, rocked him, sang to him and cooed, tried everything she could to make him happy...the way Leo beamed so proudly at him, as though he could never love anything as much as he loved hm, how Paige and Phoebe each clamored, waiting their turn to hold him.

They loved Wyatt now, not Chris...

...never Chris.

Tears filling his eyes, blurring his vision, Chris turned his back on the manor, and orbed back to his sanctuary.

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"Come ON, Piper! Wake up!" exclaimed Paige, as she and Phoebe attempted to haul thier oldest sister out of bed. "Wyatt wants to open presents!"

"Wyatt my ass!" Piper mumbled, with a smile on her face. "It's you two who wanna open presents!"

With Paige leading the way, they dragged-raced-pulled-pushed each other down the stairs, where Wyatt was in his play pen, awaiting (and laughing at) his families arrival (Leo wasn't able to make it for Christmas day).

"Oh, Merry Christmas little guy!" Piper beamed, picking the toddler up from the pen."You wanna open up some presents?"

Wyatt, who couldn't talk yet, just gurgled happily.

"Ok, Paige? This one's yours!" Phoebe called out, handing her baby sister a shiny green bag. Piper planted herself on the floor along with her sisters, Wyatt on her lap.

"Look sweetie!" she said excitedly, pulling a gold-wrapped box from the pile; Leo's gift to him. "Looky what Daddy brought you!"

Wyatt, liking how the package sparkled so, squealed, and reached forward, his tiny little fingers attempting to peel back the paper. With a little help from Mommy, he finally got it open. Inside was a set of big toy cars, in bright, fun colors. Wyatt was thrilled.

Slowly, they made their way through the gifts. Piper receive a blouse from Paige, and a Blackberry from Phoebe. She'd given he sisters each a day's pass at the spa, with their own fluffy towels to match.

"Ohhh! Piper, thank you so much! I SO need a spa day!" Paige exclaimed.

And all three had spoiled Wyatt a bit. He got new clothes, story books, and plenty of new toys, which kept him occupied before he was even don with all of them.

"Thank you both SO much," Piper gushed. "And I'm sure Wyatt would thank you too, right little man?"

Wyatt just grinned, bust with his trucks.

"OK, how about I go fix some..." Piper began sitting up, when she stopped, mid sentence. Tucked deep beneath the tree where four more presents...each wrapped in blue paper...

"Paige? Did you buy these?" she asked, reaching far under the tree to wrestle the boxes out.

"No, you opened all the ones I bought. Phoebe?"

Each looked to the middle Charmed One, who shook her head. "Not me!"

Turning one package around, she found the tag: To Paige, From Chris.

"They're...they're from Chris..." she stuttered, her voice a whisper.

"Chris?" shrilled her sisters, each as shocked as she.

"Yeah, there's one for each of us and Wyatt,' she said softly, handing the boxes to her sisters. But each just sat there a moment.

"Um, guys?" Paige spoke up.

"Yeah?"

"Did, um...did any of you get Chris anything?"

Phoebe cringed. "No, I didn't...Piper?"

"I didn't get him anything either...I never even thought about it!" she admitted, gilt sinking in like a lead wight.

She looked over to Phoebe, wh had torn away the paper, and was opening the box. Inside, she found a pair of sterling silver hoop ear rings.

"Oh my..look at these! They're so pretty!" she exclaimed, admiring them in the sunlight.

Phoebe showed the others a bracelet, with her birth stone placed on the top.

"Oh Chris..." she sighed, as it was now her turn to feel guilty...

Piper gently tugged at the tape of her present, not tearing the paper. The blue wrapping fell to the floor, and she turned the black box around to find the hinges...

Inside, nestled delicately on white cotton, was a necklace, a real, honest-to-god diamond necklace!

"Holy shit!" Phoebe squealed, getting a good look a it. "Hat's real! How the Hell did he get money for that?"

But Piper didn't hear them. Not a word. Instead, she just asked, "Has anyone even seen Chris lately?"

Both shook their heads. "I haven't seen him in days..." Paige admitted, looking down at Wyatt, who now held a large, gray Bunny he'd received from Chris, almost as big as he was.

Piper felt as though she'd just been smacked in the face. Here Chris, whom they've treated like shit (if they weren't simply ignoring him) bought them these beautiful, expensive gifts...and they hadn't even thought about him...

"Do...does anyone even know where he is?"

"No..." came the unanimous response.

Piper groaned, burying her face in her hands. Sure, he was annoying, a workaholic, and so neurotic he'd crack any therapist, but...

But Piper couldn't stand the thought of him being all alone on Christmas. It's not like he had any family here, and THEY hadn't invited him over...God, how could they be so careless!

"Paige, P3, orb!" she commanded, grabbing onto her sisters hand. Phoebe stayed to oversee Wyatt as her sisters headed off to find Chris.

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How long does it take to die of exposure? Chris had asked himself at about three that morning. Back when he was still shivering, back when he still hurt... He knew he'd soon get his answer. It was just past seven, with the first rays of daylight peaking over the horizon. He'd been sitting on the damn bridge since midnight, crying, damn it, SOBBING, after seeing his family, enjoying the holiday without giving him a thought. Though he'd been outside for an hour earlier. He knew it would be no work at all to orb back to P3, where it was warm. No family, no friends, no dinner, but it was warm...

Chris didn't want to be warm. If you where cold enough, you didn't feel pain. And sitting out on the bridge for seven hours, he was frozen. He felt nothing; no pain, no jealousy, no anger or resentments...

But he felt one thing:

Death.

And he didn't care.

Actually, he was shocked he'd survived this long in below-freezing weather. All he wore was a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a light coat. Most people would have been dead in just a few hours. THAT would have been nice; a quicker death. But he just HAD to be half-Whitelighter, half immortal, giving him a naturally better tolerance to injury. To the elements. And death.

But he could still die.

It would take more to kill him than it would a mortal, but he could still very much die.

And he was. He was dying. Out on this damn bridge, all alone on Christmas morning, he'd die.

And he welcomed it.

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"He's not here, Piper." Paige could see that the moment the orbed into the bar. There was no noise, no activity...no Chris.

"Then, where would he be?" Piper nearly cried. Where COULD he be? Walking the streets? Huddled alone in some park?

"I don't...no, wait!" Paige suddenly got a brighter look on her face. "The Bridge! Chris goes there all the time!"

"The Golden Gate Bridge? All the way on top?"

"Yeah, he likes to think there and he..."

"Less talk, more orbing!"

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'and the three men saw in the sky a bright shining star, and they followed it to a town called Bethlehem. And in Bethlehem, they found a new born baby, sleeping in a manger, under the loving watch of his mother.'

Chris could hear his mother's voice as she read ths story to him so many years ago. He'd felt so safe, so loved, cuddling with his mother on Christmas Eve, her voice lulling him to sleep. Sleep...

'And the angel stood guard over the beautiful baby, protecting him from all the evil that would harm while he slept.'

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The first thing that invaded the girls senses was cold, it was SO cold! Paige, who wore only a long tee-shirt, gasped, wrapping her arms around heself. For several seconds, she had forgotten all about their goal.

And then Piper screamed.

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Everything was dark now. The sun was rising, but Chris's world had become not but night. His hazy mind thought fondly of seeing his Mother again. The one who raised him, who's held him during the night, took care of him when he was sick...

Who loved him.

His frozen face drew slowly into a small, sheepish smile. That was the best Christmas gift he could imagine. Being with Mom again!

He was on the brink of death, and he knew it. He was beginning to loose consciousness, and it wouldn't take long after that.

He wasn't fighting. He was willing it. No one here cared about him, not at all. They'd left him out in the cold on Christmas, and he hated them for it...

No, he...he didn't hate them. He loved them, more than anything. If he hated them, it wouldn't have hurt so bad when they forgot him. They may be younger, may not love him...

But they where his family, they where all he had...

But soon he'd have his mother back.! He couldn't wait to see her. She's hold him to her like Piper had with Wyatt. He's smooth back his hair, and tell him how much she loved her...

And then someone screamed.

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Piper had never screamed so loud in her life. And she had good reason to now. There slumped against the support beam, was Chris.

But. God, she didn't even think he was alive!

His face was pure white, not just pale, but white. His lips and the skin around his eyes where an icy blue, a color human flesh should never be. God, how long was he out here? WHY was he out here!

She was by his side in less than a second, praying that he was still breathing...

He was.

A tiny puff of mist emanating from his blue lips told her so.

"Oh dear God!" Paige whispered, kneeling down by Piper. "Is he...?"

"He's still breathing," Piper choked out, trying to swallow a lump in her throat. "But barely. Come ON Paige! Orb!" she ordered, taking hold of the lifeless figure before her, as they disapeared in a swirl of lights.

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"Get Wyatt out of here!" Piper instructed the moment they materialized. Chris was curled up on the couch, looking every bit of a corpse. Paige ran to grab Wyatt before he caught sight of the young man.

"What in the name of god?" Phoebe gasped, rushing into the room, having heard the tone in Pipers voice.

"He was on the bridge" Piper said, trying to take charge, keep her voice even. She pulled the throw blanket off the back of the couch, wrapping it around Chris. Not enough.

"What? Why in the Hell was he on the bridge? It's freezing outside!"

"Yeah, Phoebe, we KNOW! Now go get that quilt Grams kept in the upstairs closet!" she ordered. Her voice was harsh, but Chris...Chris needed them...

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Mom? Chris thought, his thoughts, emotions, feelings, all mish mashed, hazy and confusing. Mom...his mom was here, right here with him! But...he didn't feel dead. Not that he knew what being dead felt like, but he was pretty sure you didn't breathe after you died, and there he was, struggling to bring air into his lungs. And it hurt to try. Each breath cut into his chest, like shards if crystal...

"Hold on, Chris. Please hold on!"

Mom! It was Mom. He could hear her voice, but all he could see was darkness...

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"Hold on, Chris. Please hold on!"

Piper Halliwell didn't know if the boy could hear her, but it was worth a try. He hadn't moved a muscle sine they found him, and was barely breathing. They'd moved him up to Pipers bedroom, where he'd be more comfortable. He was nestled under layer after layer of blankets and quilts, but he hadn't stirred...

Paige had filled up three hot water bottles and, wrapping them in towels, placed one at his back, and two by his legs and feet, trying, needing, to get him warm.

Piper had never felt so scared in her life. Or as guilty. If they had so much as remembered Chris yesterday, had invited him to have dinner, to just BE with them on Christmas eve, then he would never have been up on that bridge...

Of course, if she was stuck in a world without her family, without any one to be with, especially on Christmas, she'd probably find a bridge a perfectly suitable place to sit and...and die...

She sat in bed next to him, his head and shoulders resting on her lap. Phoebe was with Wyatt, and Paige was holding his frozen hands in her own, trying, just like Piper, to make him feel warm again.

But he was so cold; frostbitten, hypothermic, and barely hanging on to life...

"Hmmmugh"

Chris suddenly groaned softly, as though he was in pain.

"Shh, I think he's waking up!" Paige announced, though she had no need to shush anyone; Piper wasn't saying a word.

"Chris? Chris, come on, wake up!" Piper coaxed he boy, rubbing his cheek vigorously.

"Hmmummm..." he groaned again, though the timing suggested that he could hear her voice.

"Come on sweetie, just open your eyes!" She practically begged him.

After seconds, which felt like hours, Chris, squeezed his eyes shut tight, then slowly opened them, looking up at Piper.

He suddenly offered her a groggy smile, and whispered "Mom" in a scratchy voice.

Piper was shell socked. Was he so out of it still that he'd confuse her with his mother? Oh, Chris...

"No...no, Chris, it's not. It's me, Piper," she broke it to him gently, not wanting to jar or shock him. She gently brushed his thick hair out of his eyes, relieved to see a little color coming back to his face.

But Chris didn't seem to hear. He blinked slowly, keeping a sheepish, elated smile on his face.

"Mom," he said again. "Mom I missed you,"

"Chris, Chris, please, I'm..I'm not your mother. I'm sorry," Piper now had tears streaming down her face. She remembered Chris telling her that he never had a chance to know his family...which meant his mother was...Oh God.

"Wyatt missed you too," he continued, closing his eyes drowsily, his words all slurring. "I'm so glad you're back"

Piper was at a loss for all words.

"I was so sad, Mama. You didn't even invite me for Christmas. I was so cold, so cold...Did you open your present?"

Piper could only nod, trying, for the moment, to play along. Chris seemed to be confusing time lines, mixing up Piper, and his mother...

"I picked it out myself, Mom. Did you like it?" he asked her, his voice containing a note of hope, as though praying to please his Mom...

"It was beautiful," Piper told him, tears now streaming down her face, darkening her blouse.

He smiled, proud that he made his Mommy happy. "Everyone still says I look like you, Mama. And that I have Daddy's eyes," his eyes then fluttered open, as though he wanted to prove the fact.

And Pipers heart stopped.

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"One big, happy family!"

"In all my life, I've never seen you take the bait the way that witch took it from you"

"In my world, families hardly existed! I never had a chance to know mine!"

"You keep this stuff forever, you know that?"

God, how could she not have seen it? How much he knew about them. Knew EVERYTHING about them...

And his eyes.

He'd looked at her a hundred times, and she'd never seen it...

Just like she'd never seen her own face in his...her smile, her dark hair, her strong jaw, her delicate features...

Good God, it...it can't be...

Chris Perry.

Chris...Halliwell?

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Everything was starting to come clearer to Chris. His mind was less muddled, and after a few moments, he even knew where he was. And he shivered. For so long, he'd felt nothing...now he felt cold!

But warm arms, quickly surrounded him...Mom. His mom held him close, and she whispered to him...just like she did with Wyatt.

He knew by now that he wasn't dead. And he knew very well who was holding him. Mom. Younger, slimmer, but still, Mom. An she was here, holding him, just as he wanted. He smiled again, and snuggled deep down in her embrace.

And he was warm.

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"Oh My God, Piper. He's right." Paige whispered, looking up with eyes as round as coins. "He looks just like you."

Piper looked back down at the young man cradled in her arms. His cheeks where pink now, and his lips where too. His skin didn't feel like ice anymore.

"Mom"?

Mom. That one word. It sounded so...true. So right.

"Mom?" Chris asked again, seeking out his mother hen she didn't answer right away.

And she smiled. This was her baby, her little boy...wiping tears away from her face, she answered, "What is it Sweetie?"

"I love you Mommy," he whispered, nearly asleep again. He now had a hold of Pipers hand, and se squeezed it softly. It was warm in her own...

"I love you too"

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Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

OK, I am SO sorry that I havn't updated sooner! What with art shows, forensics meets (I got second place on Saturday!) And all that, I hasn't had time! Also, I've just been in a real down mood lately, and just havn't had the heart to write. But, anyway, here is the update you have been waiting for. I give you, to popular demand, the One Shot that Wasn't: I Love You Too.

(Also, I gave Paige a middle name.)

A.N. I don't know if any of you have ever had to crawl under an electric fence to get into the pasture, and in the process, brushed your head up against the current, but if you haven't, let me tell you; NOTHING bring you back to your senses faster!

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Piper sat at her self appointed post, at the edge of her bed, looking down at the young man deeply asleep before her. He was curled on his side, his long hair tousled out on his pillow. His right hand was brought up beside his face, and his other was held lovingly in Pipers. His extreme pallor was replaced by a deep blush to his cheeks and the tip of his nose. He was warm to the touch now, which was a blessing after his near brush with death.

She assumed she should be...shocked, hurt, in denial...but amazingly, she was taking the news quite well. It seemed natural, now, to be sitting here with him as he slept, holding his hand, soothing him, as though she'd been doing it since his birth...which, in some world, she had... She was already planning all the ways she could to spoil him, and get some meat on his bones!

A while before, after he'd started to 'defrost', Paige had left the room, under the guise of telling Phoebe and Wyatt that he had a baby brother, though Piper knew she was letting Piper have some alone time with Chris.

Suddenly, she felt Chris tense under her touch. Alarmed, she looked quickly down at him. He was stirring under his blankets, his brow furrowed in anxiety; a dream, most likely.

"Shh, it's ok baby," she cooed softly, brushing his dark hair away from his face and gently stroking his cheek. He stirred for a moment more, then settled back down, leaning into his mothers touch.

'_In my world, families hardly existed. I never had a chance to know mine!'_

His words rand out resoundly through her mind. They had died in his future, all of them, apparently. And he must have been young...

"Oh baby," she whispered, her voice breaking. He had been through so much, it seemed, and how did she welcome him? By throwing him through a door. What kind of mother treated her son like that?

The answer was obvious, of course...

'Me...'

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"Paige Anya Matthews, would you sit down and TRY to string three coherent words together!" snapped Phoebe.

The two where down the hall now, in Paige's room, discussing The current situation.

Or, trying...

Paige couldn't seem to find the right words. Really, how do you tell someone that the person they hate, loathe, humiliate or just ignore, is actually flesh and blood, who's risked his very life to save theirs? How do you tell them, her, that he was so devastated by their rejection, he was ready to give up on everything?

However one went about doing that, completely eluded Paige.

"Well, see, it's...it's Chris..." she began. Still not certain as how to let this particular cat out of the bag. Cause this sure was one fricking huge tom cat.

"What about Chris!" Phoebe demanded, her patience wearing. "Chris...lemme guess...He's a demon?"

"What! No, nono, nothing like that!" Paige defended.

"Ok, than...he's oh! I got it! You're in love!" Phoebe grinned.

Paige, however, gagged melodramatically. "Oh Hell no! That's just sick and twisted! I mean, hey, kinky's fine with me, but incest is SO not my cup of tea!".

Phoebe started to chuckle at Paige's attitude, until it finally dawned on her what Paige had just said. 'Incest', she'd said. Meaning a family member. Meaning Chris. Meaning...

"Oh My God!" Phoebe exclaimed, her eyes suddenly going quite round. "Oh My God, Oh My God, Oh My Freaking God!" Paige shifted uncomfortably under her sisters gaze. "Do you mean to tell me that that boy, who split up Piper and Leo, who sent us after a dozen demons a day, who was rude, surly, and crabby, is FAMILY!" She demanded of Paige.

"Um, yeah...that would be right," Paige stammered, trying her best to smile, though she was sure it turned out as more of a grimace.

Phoebe lowered herself on to her bed, looking for all the world like she was about to prove that people really COULD die from emotional chock.

"Whose?" she asked after several long moments, the one syllable slipped and short.

"Huh?" Paige was off in her own thoughts.

"Whose?" Phoebe repeated again. "I mean, He's what, 21? 22? And being from twenty-something years in the future, he's not yet, but soon to be, born. Which makes him one of our kids So whose is he? Yours, mine, or Pipers?"

Paige smiled to herself, remembering how just minutes ago she'd noticed for the first time how much like Piper he looked.

"Guess." she said quietly. "Who does he look like?"

Phoebe pictured her neurotic and paranoid Whitelighter in her mind. His dark hair, high sheeks, pale skin..

"Oh my God he looks just like Piper!" Phoebe suddenly realized. Paige nidded her head, smiling. And the room fell silent once more, each sister wandering through her own musings.

After a few more moments, it was Paiges turn to break the silence, "So, what do tou think?"

"I think Chris would look so handsome in a green button down and denim."

"Huh?" Paige laughed, Phoebe's suddenly chipper tone amusing her.

"Or maybe red," Phoebe continued, concentering. "Red would look great against his skin. Oh! Maybe..."

"Phoebe, mind letting me in on your ranting?" Paige budded in, shaking her head happily.

"Paige, come on!" Phoebe said to Paige, as though the answer was starring her in the face. "It is our solemn duty as aunts to spoil our nephews to the fullest extent, and we have twenty years to make up for!"

Paiges tone sombered noticeably as she herself added, "And one very important Christmas."

Phoebe nodded sadly, no longer laughing.

"And one very important Christmas," she agreed.

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Chris's first thought as he once again awoke into conciousness was a quick return to sleep. He felt exhausted, and achy, yet his qualms where overridden by an extreme sense of calm, warmth, and safety. He hadn't felt a serenity this profound since he was a child, and would awake in his mothers arms, after an evening of nightmares or illness...

...wait...

Mom!

Chris's eyes suddenly flung open in shock, his body startling as though he'd just leaned against an electric fence. He made a mad scan of his surroundings, and recognized the soace in an instant as his mothers room...

He also recognized his mothers voice.

"Chris, Chris? It's ok, Sweetie, calm down. It's Ok,"

And he also knew her warm, tender embrace, surrounding him, enveloping him and pulling his close.

"It's OK," She repeated softly. Her hand reached up and ran through his thick hair, soothing his worries.

Chris wracked his brain, trying to pick his way through the muddled, murky memories he could uncover. The cold, the bitterly icy wind, reciting the story his mother spent every Christmas reading to him. He remembered praying for Death, awaiting it...God, everything was all piecemeal! Everything he could drudge up from the previous night appeared to have been nibbled upon but mice; everything was full of gaping holes.

He recalled someone screaming...something warm at his back, oh so warm against his frozen skin...And he remembered...Oh God, he remembered calling Piper Mom!

He groaned aloud at that particular memory. No way, oh I did NOT do that! Please tell me I didn't do that!

Hearing his moaning, Piper instantly turned to gt a better look at him.

"What's wrong Chris? Do you hurt anywhere? You OK?" Piper asked, assuming he was in pain.

Chris turned slowly towards her, but couldn't respond. She knew. Oh Good God, she knew! After months of carefully protecting his secret, of guarding his true identity, he spilled it all out in a moment of weakness.

But looking into her deep, chocolate eyes, he saw something that pushed his self punishments aside. He saw something that he had never thought he'd see again. In her eyes where a hundred emotions, spinning through her mind, all whirling around at once. Chris could read them as plainly as he read a piece of literature. There was worry, concern, uncertainty. He could see doubt, excitement, even a bit of fear. Those hazel orbs held within their depths a sense of foreboding, as though she was anxious about the young man. Which Chris had no doubt in his mind that she was. For overlaying all those feelings or sorrow and pain, was joy, eagerness, and, most if all, love. Always, forever, love.

Chris felt a shiver run down his spine, as he remembered the last time he'd looked into her eyes like this. He was fourteen, and had come home from school, excited to show his Mom his report card, all A's. And he'd stopped dead in his tracks when he found his mother slumped on the stairs, bleeding and barely hanging on, For him. She had pulled up every ounce of will she had to keep herself alive to say goodbye tp her son. He'd rushed to her, tears already staining his pale face. He'd yelled for Leo at the top of his voice, but his call went unanswered. Then Piper had reached out slowly, took his face in her palm, and smiled. And her eyes portrayed everything that her voice hadn't enough strength to express in her last moments...

Chris startled out of his memories when he felt a weight settle over his body. Turning, he saw Piper finishing wrapping a thick, red blanket all around him; She'd seen him shiver, and thought he was cold. And given what had happened, that was the last thing he wished upon him.

Satisfied, she scooted herself over more, to see Chris more directly. He looked frightened, apprehensive, and for all the world like he would shove aside the blankets and sprint from the room, had he the strength to do so.

"Chris?" her voice whispered to him, so soft and sweet. "Chris, talk to me. Are you alright?"

Talk to her...Talk to her! Chris nearly laughed out loud, though he suppressed it. He didn't wan Piper to think he was insane as well as neurotic. Talk to her! She had no idea how long he had wished fervently, with all his heart, to just talk to her once more! But, though he wanted to talk to her more than anything, try as he might, sound refused to come from his mouth. 'I love you so much!' he wanted to tell her. 'I've missed you!'! But he just couldn't seem to remember how to form sounds, words, sentences. Grammar lessons were a mishmash in his skull, vowels and consonants all whirling and twirling and spinning in his head. And through all this mayhem, he was able to utter only one, single word...

"Mom?"

The word came out feebly, shaky, and he admonished himself for sounding so weak.

Piper smiled at her son. He looked so lost, so forlorn. He must be so overwhelmed! Piper realized. He was asleep so long, and he probably barely remembered any of his near-death experience. But maybe that was a good thing...

"Hey baby." she beamed at him, and brushed a stubborn lock of hair away from his face. She sighed. She'd always thought 'beautiful' was a word to only describe woman and tiny baby's. But it fit so very well when describing the young man before her. His thick, richly colore hair, smooth, pale skin set of deep jade eyes. Handsome didn't cover it. Neither did attractive. Beautiful was the only word in the English language to perfectly describe her baby.

"Hey Chris. How are you feeling?" she asked, continuing to run her hands through his hair.

How was he feeling? Every inch of his very being aches and burned; his head throbbed and swam at the sudden realization that his deepest secret was now open news. His stomach rolled with an unpleasant combination of hunger and nausea...

And he'd never been happier in his life.

Without bothering to answer, he shrugged off the blanket, and threw himself into Pipers welcoming arms, his body shaking.

Piper was rather taken aback, but wrapped her arms warmly around Chris. He was failing to chocked back racking sobs, as he buried his face against Pipers shoulder. This seemed so out of character for him, but Piper reasoned that NO ONE would be quite in character, given the circumstances Chris had been stuck with.

"It's ok honey. Everything's gonna be OK." she soothed, rubbing large circles across his back.

"I-I'm sssorry for nnnot tt-ttelling yooou..." Chris choked out between sobs. Piper held him ever tighter. "I just di-di-didn't know wwh-what to sssay and..." Piper shushed him quietly.

"Chris, you don't have to explain yourself," she told him. "I understand. I don't think I'd be able to go back 30 years and be able to tell MY mother who I as either!" She'd always been so angry at him, keeping secrets the way her did. But...putting herself in his shoes, it suddenly all made perfect sense.

"B-but I ccaussed so much trtrouble." He continued, though he seemed to be calming down a bit.

"Caused, past tense." Piper smiled slightly, planting a kiss on top of his unruly head.

Chris suddenlypulled out of her embrace, and looked her square in the face. His eyes where bloodshot, and his tearstained face was read and blotchy.

"How can you s-s-sit there and just excc-cept all this?" he asked so quietly. "How ccan you just forgive m-me like that, like I-I never did anything?"He sounded so desperate to Piper, but really he was disbelieving. It was just too good to be true. Surely she wasn't just going to welcome him with open arms? Things never turned out like that for Chris...

"Because," Piper replied calmly. "You're my son. You always where; I just didn't know it. But ignorance of a fact doesn't make the fact any less true," she reasoned, but Chris srtill lokked unconvinced. So Piper moved closer, enveloping him once more in her warm arms.

"I'M the one who should be sorry, baby. I was so cruel to you! All this time, all those things I said!"

"You didn't know," Chris reasoned.

"Doesn't matter," Piper went on. "It gave me no excuse to treat you the way I did. But you know what?"

Chris wiped a hand over his eyes, suddenly ashamed of his tears. "What?" But Piper grasped his wrist, and gently took his hand away. Raising her own, she wiped the salty tears off his cheeks.

"Things are going to be different now." she promised him ever so gently.

And Chris couldn't help but smile.

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And there you have it! This chapter was originally intended to be longer, but I'm gonna save that for the third and final chapter. Keep a look out for the new chapter of Like a Story That Had Just Begun, coming...eventually!

HA! Anyway, see that pretty blueish gray button on the bottom left there? If you push it, you get a prize!

Well, I guess if you call talking to an insane bookworm a prize. But it's a prize for me!

Lottsa Love,

LLC


	3. Chapter 3

Good news to you all! I'm on an update high! Every author knows the joys of an update high; you go FOREVER without updating, then you finally do, the reviews roll in, and you wanna do it again! ANYway, I have one last chapter here for this trilogy fic, and I want to get it done. Why? Cause I have such a great idea for a new fic! In fact, I'll reward the first reviewer of this last chapter with a sneak peak of my upcoming feature, "By Any Other Name"

A/N. The confrontation between Chris and Leo is my own plot, but I borrowed some direction from my Forensics cutting, my duet. In it, I'm the bitter mother, who blames the death of my husband onto my daughter. In the climax, I'm in a rage, shoving and pushing my daughter back, yelling "It was YOU wasn't it? It was YOU who wanted him dead! And it's You who wants Jake Dead too! It's YOU who wants to undermine this ENTIRE family! Drag us down, ONE by ONE, till there's NO ONE left but YOU!" SLAP! seriously, she slapped me! And after five months, she got good at it!

ANYway,

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Leo smiled to himself happily, and rather proud of himself too. He'd been devastated when he'd found out that there was a mandatary Elders meeting on Christmas Day. He'd so been looking forward to spending the holiday with Wyatt, he missed his son SO much! He knew Wyatt wouldn't remember; but he would.

But, being a high rqnking Elder as he was, he'd managed to pull a few strings. Well, ok...lie, too. He'd claimed that one of the sisters was having a crisis; charges came before EVERYTHING. Of course, the Elders had demanded to know why Christopher wasn't handling the situation;

"Ugh, you know how he is. He's irresponsible, reckless" Leo had brushed off the third degree.

The Elders had agreed; Chris really had no respect for authority. In fact, the little witch had been the topic of discussion as Leo orbed out down to Earth.

He couldn't wait to surprise his son,

And Piper...

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An hour later found Chris sitting up in bed, with a steaming bowl of soup in his lap. It wasn't the homemade soup he remembered so vividly from his childhood, but he was famished, and Campbell's tasted pretty damn good at the moment.

Every fiber of his being was sore and achy, his legs especially (he guessed that sitting motionless and cross-legged in the middle of winter will do that to ya) and his hands shook slightly, but he hardly noticed.

Piper was sitting beside him in bed, mainly because she couldn't drag herself away from him, but also because she as afraid that his shaking hands would tip scalding soup into the boys lap. She kept one hand on her lap, to help him steady if need be.

"You Ok, sweetie? You still look awfully pale..." Piper queried. She may have only known the boys identity for a couple hours, but she was already being overprotective. She stayed right at his side, asking if he felt alright, if he was hungry, tired. Just nagging, really.

And Chris couldn't be happier.

He'd lost his mother at age fourteen, and had missed her terribly, his grief shredding at his soul on the inside, while he fought to keep himself from falling apart on the outside. Twice, his mourning had nearly cost him his own life; once, by neglect, the second by pure intention. He still had the scars on his wrists...

But here, now, he could almost pretend like it had never happened. Sure, Pipers face was smoother, her hair was richly colored, dark, with no grays (he could fix that, though...). He could almost pretend like she had never died. And if he really tried hard, he could almost forget about last nights...incident; make believe that he was stuck in bed with a cold of something.

"I guess I'm just a little tired," he admitted, the stone wall he'd erected around himself slowly being torn down, brick by brick. Three days ago, he would never admit to weakness of any kind. But now, he was sort of relishing the attention.

Piper smiled sympathetically, and took the bowl from his hands; it was nearly empty anyways.

"I wouldn't doubt it; why don't you just lie down and sleep for a bit?" she suggested, and Chris, whose eyelids seemed to be drooping like lead, nodded in agreement and leaned back into bed. He was soo tired; nearly freezing to death can have that affect on some people.

Closing his eyes, he felt his mothers coll palm against his forehead; she'd taken to doing that, apparently afraid that he was suddenly going to go from hypothermic to feverish in two hours. But he leaned into her touch, content nearly to the point of purring, and was nearly asleep...

When he heard someone orb into the room.

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Pipers eyes widened with disbelief when she say her ex materialize in the room. A part of her was ecstatic; Wyatt would love seeing his Daddy on Christmas day.

But the other, quicker thinking side of her brain, was sending up emergency signals. Im the three point seven seconds that it took Leo to fully form in her bedroom, her mind was frantically searching for a way to explain why she was lying in bed with her White lighter.

Leo coporialized with a huge, beaming grin on his face, obviously hoping for a warm welcome.

"Piper! Merry Ch...Chris...Chris!" Leo spat, his face twisting into a look to resemble that of someone having just been popped upside the head with a skillet. "What the Hell...!"

"Leo, I, um, just calm down, uh..." Piper stammered desperately, her heart pounding against her ribs. She unconsciously moved a little closer to Chris, who was now struggling to push himself upright, as though wanting to protect him. Because at the moment, Leo looked positively livid.

"What the fuck is going on here?" he demanded, all fuzzy feelings of warmth and good cheer gone, flown out the door upon the sight of his ex and her whitelighter together like...like that. "Piper, damn it! I asked you a ..."

"Don't you dare talk to her like that!" Chris suddenly interupted. He had succeeded in pushing himself upright, leaning on one arm. His pale face, which was weighed with fatigue only moments ago was now burrowed with anger and resentment. He had never been on good terms with is father in the best of circumstances.

This was most definitely NOT a good circumstance.

Leo's jaw dropped at Chris's harsh words. How dare he take an attitude with him?

"Wh..What did you say?" he asked again, his voice dangerously low. Piper was almost a little afraid now. She'd never seen Leo like this; he was a pacificist, for God's sake!

Os course, a bonafide saint would be pretty unruffled to find his ex wife, whome he still had feelings for, "in bed" with the one man, the ONE MAN, who made his blood boil.

"I said, don't you talk to her like that. Don't take that tone with her." Chris responded, his voice soft, yet fierce. His jade eyes bore holes into Leo's the persona whome he'd inherited his eyes from.

"Do not give me a lecture about manners, you bastard!" Leo shot back, his blood drumming in his ears. What nerve! Who the Hell did this runt you think he was, telling him off like that!

'Leo!" Piper broke in, "Leave him alone! Just...stop this!" her voice was high pitched, emotional. But Leo and Chris didn't seem to hear.

Chris glowered at his father, his pale cheeks glowing red with anger. "Well, you certainly seem to need it! You have no right to treat her like that!"

"What makes you think you can tell me about right and wrong, eh? After all the crap you pull?" Leo's voice was raising, almost a shout now. "What the Hell makes you think you can tell me all bout morals, when YOU'RE shacked up with my wife?"

"EX wife, you bastard! And maybe if you weren't so thick headed, you'd have realized that, oh, five moths ago!" Fueled by rage, and on a roll, Chris pulled himself out of bed, working on a rush of adrenaline.

"She's be so much better off without you! Why don't you just stay out of our lives?"

"YOUR lives?" Leo cut in, but was barely able to squeeze those two words out before Chris lashed out on him again.

"You've always been nothing but a bother! Something we had to put up with!" Chris was in Leos face now, screaming basic nonsense. It was too much, just TOO MUCH! He couldn't deal with this! He'd been holding it in for years...until now.

"So don't you dare, ever, talk to her, or any of us like that, you selfish bastard!"

WHACK

The next thing Chris next, he was sprawled on the floor, his head spinning, and the left side of his face felt like someone had chucked a brick at him. He was veguely aware of someone screaming, but everything seemed to be fuzzy, and dark...

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Leo couldn't believe what he'd just done.

He'd never hit anyone, ever...well, except Dan, but that was a whole nother story.

He regretted it immediately, as soon as his fist collided with Chris's cheek. He'd hit him hard enough to break a bone, and he'd fallen hard to the floor...

Oh God, what the Hell did I do?

He head Piper shriek, and run past him, over to Chris. She dropped beside him, and shook his shoulder gently.

"Chris, Chris, honey, can you hear me?" and Leo could almost hear her relief as he groaned softly at her voice.

And he suddenly wasn't so sorry anymore. Homey? She called him honey!

"Leo Wyatt, what in the name of God is the matter with you?" Piper cried, her face rage, personified. She was now helping Chris to sit up, though he wasn't having much success. He leaned heavily, almost drunkenly, against Piper.

"What's wrong with me?" Leo repeated, outraged. "What's WRONG with me? I come home to surprise you for Christmas, and I find you in bed with HIM, and you ask me what's Wrong wit..."

"He's sick, Leo! He's sick!" Piper defended, disgusted at her ex's actions. "He nearly died last night, Leo! I was letting him rest in my bed, he's weak. And you come barging in here and hit him!" Piper was a wreck by now; tears streaming down her face, her skin wet, blotchy. "You fucking punched him Leo, you hit your own damn son!"

And as soon as Piper said it, she knew she was in trouble. Oh, shit, she chastised herself. Ohshit, ohshit, ohshit!

All the color drained from Leo's face. S-son? That lying Bastard, his...son?

"Piper, what the Hell are you talking about?" Leo's voice, though starined, was barely audible.

"You heard me Leo," Piper's voice was pure ice. "You hit your son. Chris is your son. He told us this morning."

Leo could have sworn that the cold words Piper spoke were actually affecting the air around him, because it suddenly seemed to freeze around him. His son? His? No, that's...not possible. It's ludicrous!

"He-he's ;lying Piper! Lying. He just has to be! You know him; he wouldn't know the truth if it-"

"Hit him in the face?" Piper finished curtly. She reached up one hand, running it through Chris's hair. He had managed to stay conscious, but considering the things Leo was saying about him, she wasn't so sure if that was a Blessing.

"He isn't lying, Leo," she continued, her chocolate eyes boring into Leo's. "He's telling the truth, and you know it. You can deny it all you want, but you KNOW it! You KNOW it makes sense! You know it's true! It's been starring us in the face for months, Leo; starring at us with YOUR eyes!"

Taking a cue, Chris turned his aching head towards his father, opeing his own eyes slightly, just enough for Leo to see the green flecked orbs behind his bruising lid.

Leo stood there, stalk still. He took in the sight before him, of the love of his after life, cradling the man he detested in her arms...a man that was...his son? Could it really be?

Oh shit, he thought.

He really messed up...

And so, panicking, not knowing what else to do, he did the one thing Chris expected, the one things Chris had become so accustomed to seeing all his life:

Leo orbed away.

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Piper sat on the floor, and watched as the Elder disapeared in a swirl of pale lights. She stared at the spot where he stood, her blood burning, bubbling. She loved Leo with all her heart, but what he just did...she didn't know if she could ever forgive him for that.

She was then reminded that she wasn't alone in the room. Chris shifted in her arms, pressing his face up against her shoulder. Keeping him still in her embrace, she pulled back, and cupped his face in her hands. Tilting his head toward the window, she sighed.

"You're going to have one Hell of a bruise," she said sadly, pressing her fingers gently under Chris's left eye; she stopped immediately, though, when her son winced, and tried to pull away.

Piper looked deeply into Chris's eyes; he'd heard everything his father had said, all the accusations; after being abandoned on Christmas eve, this was the last thing he needed.

Chris could feel his eyes sting with tears, and tried to turn away. Sure, he was used to Leo leaving him, just orbing, without giving his youngest a second thought, but it still hurt. Every single time, it tore at him, clawed and slashed at his very soul. And this? This different. Leo had never, ever, laid a hand on him, even in discipline...

"Chris?" his mother ventured delicately, her voice soft.

He looked up at her, trying (and failing) to force a smile. For her benefit.

"Chris, it's gonna be OK. He was just... just..."

"There isn't any excuse," Chris broke in bluntly. He leaned back into Pipers warm, welcoming embrace, seeking some kind of comfort. Which she readily provided.

It was silent for a moment, awkwardly so, when Piper suggested that he get back into bed.

"'K," was all he said in reply, suddenly aware of how much his body was screaming at him for sleep. He was aware of every extension of his body being tied down with wieghts of exhaustion, and he wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed, ad sleep for a day.

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"But a day turned out to get about four hours. He woke up, sometime that afternoon, to two hyperactive aunts, one somewhat cranky toddler, and a bemused mother, and jumping on his bed at once (well, the adults jumped; Wyatt just kinda went along for the ride).

As soon as he seemed slightly coherent, Phoebe siezed him around the shoulders, and planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek. Aunt Paige followed suite, adding her own touch by ruffling up his hair, which was already standing up, a la Woody Woodpecker.

"What the Hell...?" he demanded, his sleep-weary mind trying to figure out what the living crap was going on.

"Merry Christmas Chrissy!" Phoebe chimed, pulling him close again, and finally jarring Chris awake. Sorta.

"Ch-Christmas?" he stammered, perplexed. That's right; it Was Christmas...

Piper, Wyatt on her lap, beamed at her youngest, and hassled him to scoot over. Settling herself beside him, she wrapped her am around him lovingly, and Chris scooted toward her, resting his head in the hollow of her neck.

Rubbing his eyes to clear the blur, he noticed that each one of his aunts and his mother each held a package in their hands. Phoebe's was wrapped in white tissue paper; Paige's had been artfully covered in green, glittery paper, and his mother held a sack with a pair of silver bells screened on the front.

Furrowing his brow as he took in the spectacle, he asked, "What's all this about?"

"Oh jeez, do you have a short-term memory problem or something?" Paige taunted, a goofy grin on her face. When Chris still kept the "You. Are. Nuts." look on his face, Phoebe elaborated,

"It's Christmas, Chris!"

"Yeah, you know, that holiday between Thanksgiving and New Years?" Phoebe continued, in a tone that suggested she was talking to a second grader.

Chris rolled his eyes; his aunts were SO annoying "I KNOW that, I mean..."

But Chris couldn't describe what he meant. His brain searched and searched, but he couldn't seem to find the right words...

Just last night, he'd been ready to die, thought that not a single member of his family gave a damn about him...He'd watched them through the bay window, laughing with each other, looking through old pictures, singing off-key to the songs on the radio...and Chris had longed so much to be a part of that scene again, like he had been when his family was still alive, beofer his life went to Hell. He'd felt so desperately lonely, standing out there in the freezing night air, wishing fervently that he could be included...

And now he was...

The family he'd thought wanted nothing to do with him, was now gathered around him, WANTING to spend Christmas with him. And he could spell something baking downstairs, the scent of his mothers cooking wafting up the stairs.

"I mean...I, just...I"

"Just shut the Hell up and open your presents!" Phoebe fake-snapped, tossing her present into Chris's lap.

It was long, and wide, but not very tall. And it was rather light. Smiling at his Aunt, he tore away the paper, and slipped the lid off the box.

Inside was exactly what he expected to get from his Aunt Phoebe, because, well, that's what she got him every year...

"I didn't know your size, but I figured you weren't exactly a plus!" Phoebe laughed, as Chris pulled out an ensamble of new clothes, which where considerably nicer than the second hand, patched-frayed-torn hand me downs he kept in a box at P3.

"And we also figured that green was your color," Paige put in, which explained why three of the four btton-ups where deep, hunter green.

He smiled rather shyly at his Aunt, and thanked her.

"Don't thank me sweetie, it's my job to spoil you rotten!"

"AND mine too!" Paige reminded her, as she passed Chris her package. It was considerably heavier than Phoebe's. Inside he found a set of handsome, leather-bound books; one on demonology, one on ancient myths and lore, and the third was on the practice of twenty-first century Wicca.

"Maybe now you'll leave that damn book in the attic alone for a while," laughed Pipper, as Chris flipped through the crisp, white pages.

Paige was rewarded by a genuine smile from her nephew, and a thank you; after barely seeing her Whitelighter display any sort of emotion, negative or positive, it was heart-wreching to see that something as simple as a Christmas gift seemed to be the highlight of his year.

But then again, maybe it was...

"Here, sweetie. This one's from Wyatt and me," Piper said to Chris, handing him the sack.

Still leaning into his mothers embrace, he pulled the tissue paper from the small sack, and reached inside. There, his fingers brushed against something small, soft; a red velvet bag.

"Aw, this isn't one of those bag-within-a-bag-within-a-bag things, is it?" Chris asked wryly, and Piper laughed, shaking he head.

"Just open it.

Loosening the strings, Chris turned the scarlet pouch upside down onto his hand, and a silver chain flowed out. At the end, was a pendant, made of silver as well; a pentagram, finely crafted, made out of a single piece of metal that had been folded upon itself to make a five-pointed star.

"Mom, it's beautiful!" he thanked Piper, who beamed, glad that he liked it. She was so worried that he wouldn't!

"You're welcome sweetie. There's so much we all want to give you; so much we're sorry for...

"Mom, you don't..." Chris started, but Piper put a finger to his lips to quiet him.

"Don't argue Chris! We treated you like crap, and you have no idea how sorry we all are for it!" Paige and Phoebe nodded in agrrement, both coming forward, encircling their arms around their young nephew.

Kissing her son gently on the forehead, Piper whispered,

"Merry Christmas, baby."

And Chris, though tired, and sore, though his face was bruised blue and purple, had never been happier than he was right now.

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Leo Wyatt stood high atop a pillar of the Golden Gate Bridge, thinking. He only had a few minutes before he had to get back Up There, but his head was swarming with this new information.

Chris was his son...Chris, the one man who gave him gray hair! His son...NO! That was a title belonging to Wyatt...

And yet, he knew, deep down inside, he knew. It explained everything, yet brought up so many new questions!

He knew what the right thing to do was. Go back, beg for forgiveness...

But he didn't. He couldn't, even if he had wanted to. He had to go to work in a minute. He couldn't get out of that to see Chris...

...not that he really wanted to.

And for the next ten minutes Leo Wyatt sat on that bridge , his back against the brace, and thought about how everything had changed so suddenly, how much he screwed up, how much he hated Chris...how much he shouldn't hate him, but didn't really care..

And all the while, having no idea that his son, sixteen hours before, had sat in that very spot, welcoming death with open arms.

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and that, ladies and gentleman, is the end! I have completed my second story, and my first one under this name!

NOW, you all know what tomorrow is, right? No! Well, let me remind you..

It's my birthday! Sweet sixteen!

And you know what would make the greatest gift?

Reviews! LOL!

Lottsa Love,

LLC


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